Section 3: Reflection / (Knowledge question)This is the TOK component of the Historical Investigation. How do you know what you know?This section of the internal assessment task requires students to reflect on what undertaking their investigation highlighted to them about the methods used by, and the challenges facing, the historian.You should response 2 or 3 of questions. You should limit this section to about 400 words Select the one’s that you can relate to the topic of your investigation.Obviously some questions are better than other. Perhaps the best questions are those that flow together Perhaps each paragraph for each question. Perhaps you should begin with the question as your topic sentence. After answering the question strip the question out and replace it with argumentative topic sentence.Examples of discussion questions that may help to encourage reflection include the following.

1, What methods used by historians did you use in your investigation? Gender, Political history… history from the top down, bottoms up, etc 2. What did your investigation highlight to you about the limitations of those methods? Depending on the method, you narrow or change your view/perspective. 3. What are the challenges facing the historian? How do they differ from the challenges facing a scientist or a mathematician? ​ Lack of sources/bias in the sources. In science there is a control and future tests can prove that it works or does not. 4. What challenges in particular does archive-based history present? Archives tend to be more routine & official. 5. How can the reliability of sources be evaluated? Check reliability via other sources to confirm/deny reliability. 6. What is the difference between bias and selection? Bias is accidental/natural. Selection is purposeful. (see 7) 7. What constitutes a historical event?Importance and related to selection/bias. (see 6) 8. Who decides which events are historically significant? Historian, this one ties into selection. 9. Is it possible to describe historical events in an unbiased way? No 10. What is the role of the historian? Application of meaning and interpretation of the past. This is what students do when they write an essay, EE, HI. 11. Should terms such as “atrocity” be used when writing about history, or should value judgments be avoided?Criteria must be established first, then show how the event(s) in question meet that criteria. 12. If it is difficult to establish proof in history, does that mean that all versions are equally acceptable? See 6&7.